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AMERICAN 
NAVAL HEROES 



Kate W. Grove 



LITTLE CLASSIC SERIES 




LEGEND 
=.OF== 
SLEEPY 
HOLLOW 



o 



This series of books for supplementary read- 
ing comprises selections from the world's best 
authors and poets, together with stories from 
history, literature, biography and nature. 
Arranged for use in schools, with introductory 
and explanatory notes, biographical 
sketchels, portraits and illustrations. 

Characteristic Features: Large, clear type, 
good paper. Convenient form. Excellent 
illustrations, biographical sketches, etc. Neat 
and durable covers. Books carefully graded 
and well edited. 

Five Cent Editions 

Price, per copy, 6 cents; five or more 5 
cents each, postpaid. 



FOR FIRST AND SECOND GRADES 

Aesop'3 Fables Old Time Stories 

First Steps lu Reading 

Bittercress and Roses 

Tliree Fairy Stories 

Hluwatlia and Its Author 

Stories Aljout Animals 

Life of Bolj, the Cat 

Our Little Sisters and Hiawatha 

Pussy Willow and Wake Robin 

The Squirrel and His Home 

Jack and the Beanstalk 

Robinson Crusoe 

Whittler and His Snowbound 

Thanksgiving Stories 

Mr. and Mrs. Stout and Jack Rabbit 

The Three Misses Cottontail 

FOR THIRD GRADE 

Fairy Tales, No. 1 

Fairy Tales. No. 2 

The Little Storv Reader 

Stories About liirds 

The Spring Beauty and the .\nemone 

Stories from Andersen 

The Little Fir Tree and Other Stories 

Stories of Old New England 

How Little Cedric Became a Knight 

The Story of a Beehive 

Golden-Rod and Aster 

ChristnKis Stories 

The Coming of the Chrlst-Chlld 

Stories of 70 

Longfellow and Hi.awatha 

The Rebellion In Toyland 

Some of Our Birds 

Artliur the Hero King 

Stories of Sir Launcelot 



FOR FOURTH GRADE— Continued 

The Norsemen and Columbus 
Our Pilgrim Forefathers 
The Story of the Revolution 
How Canada Was Discovered and Settled 
Dickens' Christmas Carol, abridged 
Legends of Rhlneland The Story of Franklin 

Miss Alcott's Girls Miss Alcott's Boys 

The Blackbird Family 
The Crow, The Raven and the Kingfisher 
The Story of Grace Darling 
The Story of Daniel Boone 

American Naval Heroes (Jones, Perry, Farragut, 
Dewey) 

FOR FIFTH GRADE 

The Story of La Salle Father Marquette 

The Discovery of America 

The Shepherd Psalm 

Hawthorne's Three Golden Apples 

Heroes of Industry (Watt, Fulton, Codnor. Stcpii- 

enson) 
The Story of McKlnley 
Hawthorne's Miraculous Pitcher 
The Story of Joan D'Arc 

FOR SIXTH GRADE 

Rab and His Friends 

The Pied Piper of Hamelln 

King of the (jolden River (Ruskin) 

The Great Stone Face (Hawtliorne) 

The Snow Image (Hawthorne) 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving) 

FOR SEVENTH GRADE 



FOR FOURTH GRADE 



Thanatopsis and Other Poems 
Enoch Arden Rip Van Winkle 

Evangeline (Longfellow), 88 pages, complete 
Whlttler's irjnowbound and the Corn Song 
The Story of Lincoln A Longfellow Booklet Thomas Moore; Biography and Selected Poems 
Theatory or Washington The Song of Hiawatha, abridged, 80 pages 

FOR EIGHTH AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADES 

Tlie Courtship of Mlle.s Standlsh, 48 pages, complete 

Vision of Sir Launfal and Other Poems The ('otter's Saturday Night and Otlier Poems 

iKjHcned Village and (Jray's Eleey • Sohrab and Rustum 

Tiic Magna Chjirta, Bill of Rights, etc. Three Selections from Washlugtun Irving 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Speeches by I.,lucoln 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY. CHICAGO 



AMERICAN NAVAL 
HEROES 

Jones, Perry, Farragut, Dewey 



t^ 



BY 

KATE W. GROVE 



ILLUSTRATED 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 

CHICAGO 



Copyright, 1913 

by 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 



A 0^^ 



rC^ni.Aa5 58 5 



OUR FIRST NAVAL HERO 

Paul Jones, the most famous of our naval heroes, was 
not a native of America, nor did he spend much of his 
time in the land of his adoption although he fought so 
bravely in her behalf. He was the son of a poor Scotch 
gardener named John Paul, and was born on the shore 
of Solway Firth in 1747. From his earliest boyhood 
little John Paul watched the ships come and go, and 
knew more about the great inlet than any pilot on it. 
When he was about twelve years old a rich shipowner 
of Whitehaven named Younger was so pleased with a 
feat of the lad's seamanship that he begged his father 
to let him take him as an apprentice. When he was 
thirteen he made his first trip to the New World aboard 
his master's ship Friendsliip, which was bound for Vir- 
ginia for a cargo of tobacco. Nothing could have 
delighted the boy more, for he had a brother in Vir- 
ginia whom he had never seen, as he had been adopted 
by a rich cousin named William Jones before young 
John was born. As good fortune would have it the 
Friendship was to land on the Rappahannock Eiver 
near his brother's home, and the Scotch sailor boy lost 
no time after landing in visiting his relatives. Indeed, 
old William Jones took such a fancy to him that he 
wanted to adopt him also. But the lad loved the sea 
too well to stay. 



4 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

John PauPs school days ended when he left the par- 
ish school at twelve, but he loved knowledge so dearly 
that all his life long he was a tireless student and a 
great reader. Consequently he rose so rapidly in posi- 
tion that when he was eighteen he sailed as first mate 
and was given a sixth interest in a brig by Mr. Younger. 
At twenty-one he was made captain of a fine new ship. 

For several years longer Captain Paul followed the 
sea. Then one day when he cast anchor at his brother's 
plantation he found him fatally ill, dying a few hours 
after his arrival. By the provisions of old William 
Jones' will John Paul was to succeed his brother as 
heir to the estate and, like his brother, assume the name 
of Jones. Thus Captain John Paul became a Virginia 
planter and John Paul Jones, or Paul Jones, by which 
name he is best known to fame. 

Being now a man of wealth and position he resolved 
to leave the sea and enjoy the pleasant life of a Vir- 
ginia planter. For this he was well fitted by his educa- 
tion, refined tastes, and charming manners. Here he 
became acquainted with Washington and Jefferson, 
with the Lees and Patrick Henry. But Paul Jones 
did not long enjoy this pleasant and congenial life. 
The storm of the Revolution was gathering, and his 
fiery soul could not help being stirred by it, and he 
assured his colonial friends that if war should break 
out he would be on the side of his adopted country and 
fight for her on the sea. After the battle of Lexington 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 




RATTLESNAKE FLAG. 



Paul Jones offered his services to Congress and was 
appointed first lieutenant on the Alfred, where he 
proudly hoisted the first Ameri- 
can flag on an American naval 
vessel. This was the ^'rattlesnake 
flag/' with the motto, ''Don't 
tread on me/' so popular with the 
Continentals. 

On May 10, 1776, Paul Jones 
was made captain of a little twelve- 
gun brig called the Providence. His duties were to 
carry troops and convoy merchantmen along the coast. 
He did veritable wonders with this insignificant vessel, 
eluding the British ships with which the waters 
swarmed and taking fifteen prizes in six weeks' time. 
Congress now made him captain of the Alfred, on 
which he captured among other prizes the brig Mellish, 
whose cargo included a thousand British uniforms, a 
most acceptable gift to the "ragged Continentals." 

While Jones was doing damage to British shipping, 
some English war vessels, by way of reprisal, came up 
Chesapeake Bay, and, laying waste his fine plantation, 
carried away all his slaves to Jamaica. For this van- 
dalism he got more than even with them later. 

When the cruise of the Alfred ended at Boston Paul 
Jones' actual work in American waters had practically 
ended. However, after six months of inaction he was, 
on June 14, 1777, made captain of the Ranger, an 




PAUL JONES. 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 7 

eighteen-gun ship built at Portsmouth. On this same 
day Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the 
national ensign, and Paul Jones with his own hands 
raised to the peak of his ship the first flag of our Union 
to float upon the sea. 

The greatest desire of Paul Jones' heart was to cross 
the sea and make war on British shipping in British 
waters. It was soon to be gratified, for on November 1 
the Ranger set sail for France carrying the news of 
Burgoyne's surrender. 

An important incident happened shortly after he 
reached France. The chief station of the French navy 
was in Quiberon Bay. When Paul Jones sailed up the 
bay between the long line of splendid French warships, 
every vessel, by order of the admiral, saluted the little 
Ranger. It was a great day for Paul Jones, and for 
America also, because France thus openly acknowl- 
edged that she was the ally of the Americans. 

Early in April, 1778, Paul Jones carried out his long- 
cherished design of raiding the English coast, sailing 
boldly out in the ridiculous little Ranger. But any kind 
of a ship with Paul Jones on it was far better than the 
greatest without him. So he swooped down on English 
harbors and burned their shipping and spiked the guns 
in their forts, without suffering a shot from the proud 
British navy. The great Mistress of the Seas was 
raging but helpless with terror. 

Paul Jones, however, was not satisfied with what 



8 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

he had accomplished. He did not want to end his cruise 
without measuring his strength with a British man-of- 
war. The Drake, a trim craft somewhat larger than 
the Ranger, lay in Carrickfergus Bay oif Belfast, and 
Jones determined to engage her. After he had cruised 
around for several hours in front of the bay the Drake 
came out to meet him. 

Soon both vessels wore round, and in a few minutes 
they were drifting side by side before the wind and 
pouring broadsides into each other. In an hour the 
Drake called for quarter. The bold Yankee captain 
had won the fight. For this brilliant exploit the Amer- 
ican government made him a commodore ; and when he 
sailed into Brest with his prize the French were in a 
frenzy of joy. 

Dr. Franklin and the French government thought 
Paul Jones should have a command worthier of his 
genius, and the latter asked him to take command of a 
fleet they intended to fit out; but what with red tape 
and other hindrances, it was nearly a year before Paul 
Jones again had command of a ship. The promised 
** fleet'* consisted of five small ships, with only one 
decent ship in it — the Alliance. His flagship was a dis- 
carded old East Indiaman called the Due de Diirras, 
which Paul Jones renamed the Bonhomme Richard in 
honor of Dr. Franklin, and in whose rotten old hull he 
was to win immortal fame. After many delays the old 
ship was manned with about forty guns and a crew of 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 9 

three hundred, about one hundred of whom were Amer- 
icans. Jones had for his first lieutenant Richard Dale, 
one of the ablest and bravest of American seamen. 

On August 14, 1779, the small fleet set sail. The 
minor events of this wonderful cruise can not be noted 
in this short sketch. The crowning event did not come 
until late in the afternoon of September 23, when the 
Bonhomme Richard sighted a fleet of forty-two sail 
rounding Flamborough Head off the coast of York- 
shire. They were soon discovered to be merchantmen 
under the convoy of two British warships — the 
Serapis, a frigate of fifty guns, and the Countess of 
Scarborough, sl ship of twenty-two six-pounders. The 
merchantmen scattered to cover, but the warships came 
boldly on to meet their plucky Yankee foe. 

Both ships at once beat to quarters, but it was 
nearly seven o'clock in the evening before fighting 
began. Things seemed to go wrong with Jones' old 
ship from the first. At the second broadside of the 
Serapis, two of her eighteen pounders burst; and at 
the end of an hour the ten eighteen-pounders in the 
broadside of the Serapis had battered the six ports in 
the lower deck of the Richard into one great gaping 
cavity; and the other side was nearly as bad, for the 
heavy shot went through both sides of the rotten old 
hull into the sea beyond. She was ' ' leaking like a sieve 
and afire in a dozen places at once.'' The ship was 
beaten ; but not Paul Jones. He just went on fighting. 



10 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES . 

calling out cheerily to his men, ''Never mind, lads, we 
will have a better ship to go home in!'' 

Soon the Richard was literally torn to pieces and 
Jones saw that his only chance lay in grappling with 
his enemy and fighting it out at close quarters. He 
soon succeeded in lashing with his own hands the bow- 
sprit of the Serapis to the mizzen mast of the Richard. 
''Soon the two ships had worked into such a position 
that neither could fire a shot. Locked in a grim and 
deadly embrace, each repeatedly catching fire from the 
other, they lay enshrouded in smoke and darkness. 
Never before had an English commander met such a 
foe or fought such a battle. ' ' 

Suddenly a voice boomed out from the decks of the 
Serapis : ' ' Have you struck ? ' ' " No, ' ' was the immor- 
tal response of Paul Jones. "We have just begun to 
fight!" Jones, with his guns all silenced but one and 
his ship 'sinking beneath his feet, would not give up. 

At this desperate moment a plucky Scotch sailor, who 
had climbed out on the main yard of the Serapis, began 
to drop hand-grenades down the hatchway where the 
huddled sailors were working the guns. Almost the 
first ignited a row of cartridges, and the explosion 
which followed completed the demoralization on board 
tlie Serapis. Human endurance could bear no more, and 
Captain Pearson himself struck his flag after the 
dreadful battle had lasted three and one-half hours. 

In this short sketch we have been able to give only 




FIGHT OF THE BONHOMME RICHARD AND THE SERAPIS. 



12 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

the barest outline of this, the most desperately fought 
battle between single ships known to naval warfare. 
This brilliant victory placed Paul Jones' name at the 
head of the list of the world's most famous sea-fighters. 
The old Bonhomme Richard, on which such glorious 
deeds were done, sank into her watery grave next 
morning with the tattered stars and stripes, still flying 
at her mizzen-peak. 

On reaching Paris, Paul Jones was hailed as the 
greatest of oc^ean heroes. He was made the guest of the 
nation. Louis XIV presented him a gold-mounted 
sword, and made him a Chevalier. The king also 
invested him with the Military Order of Merit, an honor 
never l)efore bestowed on any one who had not borne 
arms for France. General Washington also wrote him 
a letter of congratulation. When he visited America in 
the fall of 1780 he was made the honored guest of the 
nation. Congress voted him a gold medal and made 
him head of the navy. Great Britain, meanwhile, was 
offering ten thousand guineas for him dead or alive. 

The greater part of Paul Jones' subsequent life was 
spent in France, among the people who had always 
loved and admired him. He died in Paris July 18, 
1792, of lung trouble, where he was buried with mili- 
tary honors. In 1905, after a long search for his burial- 
place, his body was found and brought to America, 
where it was laid to rest in the beautiful memorial 
chapel at Annapolis. 




OLIVER HAZARD PERRY. 



THE HERO OF LAKE ERIE 

Oliver Hazard Perry, one of the most popular and 
best known of our naval heroes, was born in Newport, 
Ehode Island, August 21, 1785, and entered the navy in 
1897 as midshipman on his father's ship. Before the 
war of 1812 his active service consisted chiefly of three 
years spent in fighting the pirates of the Barbary 
States in Africa. 

At the breaking out of our second war with England 
he was made captain of the gunboat flotilla at Newport. 
This seemed a mere waste of time to the eager and 
ambitious young officer, who felt that he ought to be 
about more stirring work elsewhere. His desire was 
soon to be gratified, for on February 13, 1813, he was 
ordered to proceed to Presque Isle on Lake Erie and 
strive to wrest from the British the control of its 
waters. Affairs had been going very badly for the 
Americans in the Northwest. Our land forces had been 
defeated, and the people were in terror of both Indians 
and British. But hope had revived with General Har- 
rison at the head of the army and plans for new activ- 
ity on the lakes. 

Perry responded eagerly to orders, and soon had a 
number of men on their way, while he followed with his 
ardent young brother to Presque Isle, the site of the 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 15 

city of Erie, which had been selected by the navy 
department as the base of operations on Lake Erie. 

When Perry reached Presque Isle he found that the 
building of the fleet was already well under way, the 
keels for two twenty-gun brigs having been laid. He 
pushed the work with the utmost activity, sending to 
Philadelphia for more shipwrights and ship supplies, 
and to Buffalo for means of defense, and early in June 
these two brigs were launched. 

After Perry's fleet was completed, a new difficulty 
arose, and that was to get the large vessels safely over 
the bar of the harbor that had protected them while 
they were building. The small ships crossed easily 
enough, but the large brigs would need to be lifted 
across in the face of a watchful enemy. Captain Bar- 
clay was so confident, however, that the brigs would be 
hopelessly stuck on the bar and thus be an easy prey, 
that on the night of August 4 he left the station to 
attend a banquet at Port Huron on the other side of the 
lake. This was just the opportunity Perry wanted, and 
by working hard all night he had the brigs floating in 
front of the bar when Barclay returned next morning! 
Seeing that he had come too late to block the Yankees, 
Barclay hastened back to Maiden to complete the 
Detroit. Perry followed with his fleet, finding a harbor 
at Put-in-Bay, a sheltered lake anchorage. He now 
had nine vessels under his command — the two brigs, 
the Laivrence and Niagara, and seven small vessels ; 



16 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

the British had only six, the Detroit, however, being 
somewhat larger than those of Perry, and they also had 
decidedly the advantage in long guns. 

On September 10, 1813, occurred the famous battle 
of Lake Erie. Early in the morning Captain Barclay 
started for Long Point, the British base of supplies. 
Perry determined to intercept him. The wind was 
unfavorable to the Americans, and the sailing master 
declared that it would bring them to the leeward of the 
enemy. Perry replied : "I don 't care, to windward or 
to leeward, they shall fight to-day ! ' ' 

The ships were formed in line of battle and the decks 
cleared for action. Then Perry unfurled a blue banner 
with the dying words of Lawrence in great white let- 
ters on it: ^' Don't give up the ship!'' and had it 
hoisted aloft amid the cheers of the fleet. 

In the meanwhile Barclay had drawn up his ships in 
battle array, in a line square across the wind with the 
Detroit and little Chippeway in the lead. Perry, in the 
Lawrence, with the Ariel and the Scorpion leading, 
headed straight for the British fleet. As Barclay had 
seventeen long guns to Perry's two, he was eager to 
open the fight, and soon the shot from the Detroit was 
crashing through the bulwarks of the Lawrence, But 
Perry kept right on until he had worked his way to 
within musket shot of the Detroit. Meanwhile, the 
British ships were closely grouped and all pouring 
in their shot on the ill-fated Lawrence, Although the 



18 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

fight had been hopeless from the start, Perry was 
determined that he would not give in, and for two 
hours kept up the uneven struggle. At the end of 
that time the vessel was a wreck ; not a gun could be 
fired, and only fourteen men remained unhurt. 

Just at this critical moment, the Niagara, which up 
to this time had taken no part in the battle, came sail- 
ing briskly up, headed for the right of the British line. 
The sight of this fresh unharmed vessel filled Perry 
with new hope. The thought flashed through his 
mind that on her deck he might retrieve the lost for- 
tunes of the day. With him to think was to act. He 
immediately ordered a boat with four men to be low- 
ered from the protected side of the Lawrence. Then 
taking with him his pennant and the banner with the 
Lawrence motto he climbed down into the boat himself 
and bade the men pull away at full speed for the 
Niagara, which was reached in safety. Having hoisted 
his pennant and banner on the Niagara Perry headed 
his new flagship straight for the British squadron, now 
so closely set that once he was in the midst of it he was 
able to use both batteries of his ship with deadly effect 
on five of the enemy's ships at once. The other Amer- 
ican ships came up and joined in the fray. Barclay 
stood utterly aghast at the storm of destruction now 
sweeping over his hitherto victorious ships. It was 
more than even British pluck could stand, and in eight 
minutes after the intrepid Perry had made a dash into 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 19 

their line, a white flag hung over the rail of the Detroit. 
Perry had won one of the most brilliant victories of the 
war. His message to Harrison has become one of the 
classics of the country : ' ' We have met the enemy and 
they are ours ! ' ' 

Aided by Perry, Harrison now invaded Canada, 
came up with Proctor, and defeated him at the battle of 
the Thames, Tecumseh, the great Indian chief, being 
killed here. The Northwest had l)een wrested at last 
from the English. The news of Perry's victory was 
everywhere received with rejoicing. Congress be- 
stowed high honors on Perry and his men, and the gal- 
lant captain is ranked among our greatest of naval 
heroes. In 1819 Perry was given the command of a 
commodore and sent to the West Indies, where he died 
of yellow fever in that year at the age of thirty-four. 



DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT 

America's great admiral, and one of the world's great 
naval commanders, was born near Knoxville, Tenn., 
July 5, 1801. Considering his birth and training it is 
not wonderful that he became a great sea captain. His 
father was a Spanish gentleman who came to America 
from Minorca to fight for us in the Revolutionary War, 
and his mother was a heroine of the early West. 

David never lacked Spartan training. When he was 
six his father was made sailing master at New Orleans 



20 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

and removed his family to an estate near by. The lad 
was given his first introduction to salt water when his 
father took him in a yawl across Lake Pontchartrain in 
a driving gale. There were many such trips, and more 
than one night the three little Farragut boys slept 
under a tarpaulin on the sandy beach. When someone 
remonstrated with Captain Farragut about such heroic 
treatment, he laughingly replied that if you make a 
child acquainted with danger when he is young he will 
not be afraid of it when he grows older. 

When David was eight years old his mother died and 
he was adopted by Captain David Porter, afterward 
famous as the captain of the Essex, and one of the most 
daring and brilliant of our naval officers. Captain 
Porter kept David with him much as his father had 
done. The ship was his home and the sea his natural 
element. He was made a midshipman before he was 
ten, and felt that he had to live up to his commission. 

In 1811 Captain Porter was given command of the 
frigate Essex; and the War of 1812 breaking out soon 
after, the young midshipman had three years of active 
service. During this time he kept a journal, and as he 
faithfully recorded the happenings from day to day, 
we owe to him many interesting details of its career. 

Of the last fight and capture of the Essex his journal 
gives many graphic details. Of his own part in it he 
says **I performed the duties of captain's aid, quarter- 
gunner, powder boy, and, in fact, did everything 




DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT 



22 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

required of me/' Captain Porter said the only reason 
lie did not recommend David for promotion ivas 
because he was so young. 

Farragut's time after the close of this war was 
spent partly on several ships, and partly in shore duty 
and study. When he was about seventeen he deter- 
mined to be a great naval commander, and thencefor- 
ward all his efforts and studies were directed to this 
end. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 
1841, and was not m^ade captain until 1855. At the out- 
break of the Civil War in 1861 he was at his home in 
Norfolk waiting orders. In that year his adopted 
brother, David D. Porter, while on blockade duty off 
the mouth of the Mississippi, made a study of the river 
and believed that it could be forced and New Orleans 
taken. He sent a report to this effect to Washington 
and recommended that David G. Farragut be given 
charge of such an expedition. After more than fifty 
years spent in his country's service Farragut had at 
last his first opportunity to distinguish himself. 

Farragut 's long experience and training eminently 
fitted him for leadershi}) in so important an enterprise, 
and he eagerly accepted it when offered. He set out 
from Hampton Roads on February 2, 1862, in the Hart- 
ford, and arrived at Ship Island February 20. 

Here Farragut gathered a fleet consisting of eight 
men-of-war and nine gunboats of two guns each. He 
also had twentv mortar boats with which to shell the 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 23 

forts under command of Porter. The undertaking 
would have appalled a less resolute and daring man. 

Between him and New Orleans were two strong 
forts, Jackson and St. Philip, built at a sharp bend in 
the stream, and made more formidable by a heavy bar- 
rier chain stretched from bank to bank of the river. 
There were also eleven armed steamers, an iron-clad 
floating battery, the Louisiana, and the ram Manassas 
to encounter, while a large number of fire-boats were 
ready to be ignited and sent down against any auda- 
cious invader. And Farragut had only wooden vessels 
to match against these formidable defenses. But Far- 
ragut did not weigh possibilities. After taking all pos- 
sible precautions he sailed in to defeat the enemy. 

The attack was opened by the fire of the mortar 
boats, which were moored two miles below Fort Jack- 
son and which kept up the fire incessantly for six days. 

Farragut had decided to run his fleet past the forts ; 
but the first thing to l)e done was to break the boom. 
This the commanders of the Itasca and Pinola volun- 
teered to do. The boats, under cover of darkness, 
tugged away at one of the old hulls until an opening 
large enough to let the Itasca through was made. 
This boat, after running a distance up stream, turned 
and came back under full steam and struck the chain a 
head-on blow. The barriers parted and the channel 
was clear for Farragut 's fleet. 

The advance was planned for the night of April 23. 



24 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

The Confederates were on the alert, and as the first 
vessels passed through the hroken barrier a perfect 
tornado of flame and shot poured forth from the forts, 
huge piles of wood were fired on shore, and blazing fire- 
ships came floating down the stream. The whole river 
was instantly transformed into a terrific inferno. The 
Hartford, Farragut's flagship, caught fire from a blaz- 
ing fire-raft and was saved only by a miracle. 

The battle throughout was one of indescribable ter- 
ror. Farragut himself said: ''The passing of Forts 
Jackson and St. Philip was one of the most awful 
sights and events I ever saw or expect to experience.'' 

It seemed impossible that anything could come out 
of it alive. But when the sun rose the forts had been 
safely passed, the Confederate gunboats were sunk or 
dispersed, and the great highway of the Mississippi 
was open to New Orleans, where Farragut 's fleet 
arrived April 25. For this notable and brilliant vic- 
tory Farragut was made rear-admiral. 

After the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson there 
was no more naval work to be done on the Mississippi. 
Farragut then turned his attention to the strongly 
fortified Gulf port of Mobile. It was the last strong- 
hold of the Confederacy on the coast. Delays in receiv- 
ing ships and soldiers did not permit an attack until 
August 5, 1864. Farragut now had fourteen wooden 
vessels protected by chains and other devices, and four 
monitors built like the first famous Monitor. 




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26 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

Mobile Bay is shaped like a great bell thirty miles 
long and fifteen wide. The narrow entrance was 
guarded by two strong forts; Fort Morgan, thirty 
guns; Fort Gaines, twenty-one guns. In the channel 
were planted two hundred torpedoes, their line marked 
by red buoys. The defenses were further strengthened 
by the great iron-clad ram the Tennessee. 

Into this formidable array, shortly after daybreak 
on August 5, Farragut sailed with his wooden fleet. 
The monitor Tecumseh was in the lead; but in her 
eagerness to get at the Tennessee ^ she ventured out- 
side the channel and was struck by a torpedo, sinking 
with nearly all on board. This accident ^trew the ship 
next her in a panic which might have been serious had 
not the admiral from his perch in the maintop of the 
Hartford noted what was going on. With his usual 
decision and impetuosity he pushed the Hartford in 
the lead, rushing straight into the torpedo nest; but 
not one torpedo exploded. 

After the forts were safely passed there was still the 
Tennessee to be dealt with ; but in her contest with the 
three remaining monitors she was so badly battered 
and disabled that she was forced to surrender. It 
would be impossible to give in the small space of this 
sketch even an outline of this famous battle, which 
placed Farragut 's name near the head of the list of the 
world *s great naval commanders. 

For this achievement Congress made him vice- 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 27 

admiral, then admiral. He was the idol of the people. 
In 1865, in command of the European squadron, he 
visited the leading foreign ports, where he was received 
with the greatest honors. His death occurred at Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire, August 14, 1870. 



THE HERO OF MANILA BAY 

George Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay, was born at 
Montpelier, Vermont, December 26, 1837. He entered 
the Naval Academy in 1854. At the outbreak of the 
Civil War he was assigned to duty on the Mississippi. 
This vessel belonged to Farragut's fleet and took part 
in the great fight on the lower Mississippi. She met 
with misfortune later while running the batteries at 
Port Hudson and was set on fire and sunk. Here it 
was that Lieutenant Dewey had his first opportunity 
to display coolness and courage in time of great dan- 
ger. The boat had run aground on the flats directly 
under the guns of the fort, and was soon riddled and 
set on fire. Every instant was fraught with direst 
peril to all on board; but the young lieutenant would 
not leave until he had spiked all the guns. Then he 
escaped just in time to avoid the explosion. 

He took part in several naval expeditions before the 
close of the war, but had no opportunity to distinguish 
himself further. In 1884 he was made captain, and in 




ADMIRAL DEWEY. 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 29 

1896 was promoted to the rank of commodore. On 
January 1, 1898, lie was given command of the Asiatic 
squadron at Hongkong, China. 

In February of that year the Maine, a United States 
warship, was blown up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, 
and the blame was laid at the door of the Spanish offi- 
cers in that city. The war spirit ran high, and on 
April 25 we declared war against Spain. The very 
same day our government flashed an order to Commo- 
dore Dewey at Hongkong ''to capture or destroy the 
Spanish fleet at Manila. ' ' Dewey lost no time in obey- 
ing the order, and, two days after the momentous tele- 
gram was sent, his squadron was steaming southward 
over the China Sea for the Philippine Islands. 

On April 30 the lookouts on the leading ships sighted 
the beautiful green shores and blue mountain line of 
Luzon rising above the waves. By nightfall the squad- 
ron was lying outside the entrance to Manila Bay, 
waiting for the darkness of night to veil their entrance. 
Manila Bay is a magnificent body of water which 
extends many miles inland from the western coast of 
Luzon, the largest of the Philippine Islands. The city 
of Manila lies about twenty miles from the entrance, 
which is guarded by batteries on a small low-lying 
island between two headlands. 

As Manila has cable communication with Europe 
Dewey thought it best that he should proceed cau- 
tiously about entering. The ships were in complete 



30 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

darkness save a small electric light in the stern to 
guide the one next in line, and did not get under way 
until midnight. The night was dark, and the ships 
glided like swift black shadows past the forts, which 
did not wake up until it was too late to prevent them, 
and the American squadron was safe in Manila Bay. 

They steamed straight ahead, and when dawn came 
the city of Manila and the white sails of its merchant 
fleet lay before them, while a few miles farther away 
the Spanish warships could be seen lying across the 
mouth of Cavite Bay. The Americans had seven fight- 
ing ships ; the Spaniards ten. The Americans had the 
largest ships, the best guns, and the best gunners, but 
they were in strange waters thickly planted with mines, 
and were ignorant of the soundings. 

The Spanish fleet looked very formidable as it lay 
across Cavite Bay with a fort at either side, but did 
not daunt Dewey in the least. Like Nelson and Farra- 
gut, he took the offensive from the start. With the 
stars and stripes flying from every masthead the 
American ships rushed headlong on the Spanish fleet, 
the flagship Olympia in the lead. 

As they swept by Manila the forts belched forth at 
them, and as they neared Cavite Bay they were greeted 
with a storm of shot and shell from both forts and 
ships. Still the American ships steamed on in silence 
until the signal shell was sent up from tlie flagship. 

From this moment every ship in turn poured in its 



AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 



31 



destructive shot and shell on the Spanish fleet and 
forts. Then, after passing the Spanish ships, the 




WRECK OF THE SPANISH FLAGSHIP, REINA CHRISTINA. 

Americans turned and tired their other battery on them 
as they came back. This was done six times with the 
most deadly effect. 

The Spanish tire came back fast and furious, but the 
aim of the Spanish gunners was so bad that scarcely a 
shot struck an American ship; while the American 



32 AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES 

fire, which seemed to hit the mark every time, wrought 
the most frightful havoc on the Spanish vessels. 

After two hours of this dreadful work all the Span- 
ish ships had been riddled and three were afire. The 
battle was practically over; but when the American 
fleet returned after a recess for breakfast, the Spanish 
flag was still defiantly flying. However, at the end of 
another hour of this one-sided contest, every ship of 
the Spanish fleet lay on the bottom of Cavite Bay. 
Not an American vessel had been injured by a Spanish 
shot nor a man killed or wounded. 

AVlien the news reached America the country was 
wild with delight. Congress gave Dewey a vote of 
thanks and a fine sword, and had a medal struck for 
every man in the squadron. He was given the rank of 
rear admiral, and in 1899 that of admiral, a rank 
hitherto borne only by Farragut and Porter. 



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